2011 Summer Vacation/Ep. 47.1: Matamoros, MX

[PhilG380]

Garcia's! When I was a kid, we always used to stop there...

[nacholibre81]

Are they supposed to talk english just because they live on the border? F...k NO.

401 Roadwarrior, to me you sound like an American lover that went to Mexico to make fun of the people and test them on ESL classes. If you don't know the language don't f.......g go but if you do don't complaint. Next time I see a Canadian Supremacist in Matamoros like you, I'll take him on a ride to the Rio Grande banks. NOt all people are uneducated and not all people want to cross the borde stupid.

[401RoadWarrior]

@nacholibre81 Have a nice life.

[yuca27]

hello, a very interesting trip, I'm Mexican, you know do not let too much influence to the media say about Mexico, there are certainly problems, but only at the border, Mexico is a big country and not the whole country is unsafe there are different realities in each region, for example I'm from Yucatan and is very safe. Now it is true, matamoros cars are mostly Americans, but to enter the country as it changes, many in Mexico speak English but some people do not speak it well or do not speak.

[northstar68]

the whole time u were driving in mx, i kept thinkin, "u need to get outta there". lol

[401RoadWarrior]

@northstar68 LOL no intention on spending a single second in MX after dark.

[northstar68]

this is very interesting & cool, Chris.

[Guisilva95]

Hey, please... What's the name of the first music??

[401RoadWarrior]

@Guisilva95 Please READ the Playlist details.

[michael112254]

Does the GPS work in Mexico or do you need an upgrade? You can still listen to satellite radio. Did you see a lot of American plates when you were in Mexico? Texas? Oklahoma? Others? Did you see any change in driving style versus the US and Canada?

[401RoadWarrior]

@michael112254 GPS you said, no, no maps for Mexico, Garmin/Navteq, I guess you can buy separate Garmin maps for Mexico in case you drive a lot in Mexico, right? Obviously not me. Sat radio worked pretty well south of the U.S. border, to my great surprise of course, no idea how far south Sirius-XM coverage still available. Also no Nextel coverage down there, I have Telus and Nextel is the counterpart in the States. 100% of American plates: TX only. Traffic signs are different, EU style.

[michael112254]

Your Ontario plates did not bring out any questions from Mexican authorities? They seemed to be indifferent. Metamoros seems to be cleaner and less chaotic than one would imagine. I am very surprised that these Mexicans are not bi-lingual. Mexico has a lot of problems, but the economy is growing very nicely. A lot better growth than US. Mexico has adopted sensible and some say conservative economic policies. The US is the weak link.

[401RoadWarrior]

@michael112254 What you see at the begining of the video is the toll booth for the bridge ($3), Mexican Customs is where you actually get into Mexico, where the gate opens up, unless you have something to declare there is no Mexican Customs official to ask for the passport, etc.. Last time I crossed into Mexico, Tijuana, Dec 2001, same thing, no Mexican official to check your papers BEFORE getting into Mexico.

Matamoros safe? Please google 'matamoros drug war violence' and see the "results" LOL

[michael112254]

@401RoadWarrior I suppose if you are driving an ordinary vehicle and not a luxury car, you will not attract the wrong kind of attention. Do Canadians consider Mexico to be a vacation destination? I see that Canadian businessmen consider Mexico to be a good business destination.

[401RoadWarrior]

@michael112254 Me rich, Michael? Since when? I wish... So just an ordinary car BUT with lots of gadgets on the dashboard, full black tinted windows and expensive oversize wheels, but because driver window always open everybody is taking a pick of the inside, lots of things to steal from inside. Yes, MX is a favorite sunny destination for CDNS, but only Acapulco-like resorts, also 1 in a million drives his/her car south of U.S. border. Personally I don't think Acapulco is cheaper than Daytona.

[neptuno338]

Wow! 8:34 very good song! This video is very good for me because all the billboards are in spanish and I now what says! :-D Viva mexico! i listen to you speaking in spanish! hahaha,the name of the cities are in spanish too, the names have meaning.

[401RoadWarrior]

@neptuno338 Wait for the very next video, ready in an hour, going into a local supermarket. Nobody speaks any english down there, NOBODY, so impossible to communicate with somebody if you ever need some help, car problems, or health, or to call the cops, etc. I know just few words in Spanish, Muchas Gracias, Como te llamas, Como te gusta, Mi amor LOL, Hasta luego, Muy bueno, Por favor, etc., I don't think any of the above will help me find a car repair shop in case i need one, or to call cops...

[neptuno338]

@401RoadWarrior ahahah yes! you need speak spanish for that! but in Mexico a lot of people speak english too by proximity at USA.Then you speak spanish with me hehe.Nos vamos a mexico a comernos unos tacos! jajaja. you have problems in mexico for pay the gasoline? in USA-dollar, in Mexico-Peso and Canada-canadian dollar problem for pay in different countries?

[401RoadWarrior]

@neptuno338 For me somebody who does not speak english, even with grammar mistakes, is an uneducated person, english IS, like it or not, the most important language in the world, the language of international business also the #1 in tourist industry, right? I wanted to find out how much is gas in USD, so somebody at the gas station to tell me the amount of whatever pesos/liter means in USD, nobody spoke any english so I took off, PEMEX is the ONLY gas retailer in MX, owned by the MX government.

[neptuno338]

@401RoadWarrior you can pay with dollars in canada and mexico? in Spain only can buy with Euros (€) I need perfect my english to talk more fluid.

[401RoadWarrior]

@neptuno338 1) U never heard CDA's currency is CND DOLLAR, in short C$, in the States you have US$, in Australia AU$, in NZ you have NZ$, these are the very developed nations using DOLLAR as their own currency. Right now C$1 = US$1.1 2) What I said in my reply 2 u was that I tried to ask the ppl in the gas station if they know how much the price at the pump, in MX Peso, equals in US$, so I can figure it out if gas is cheaper or more expensive than in the States or CDA, no need 2 buy gas in MX.

[neptuno338]

@401RoadWarrior Sorry but i don't understand that...when you go to buy the gas in MX you pay with dollars or pesos?because pesos is other money...pesos have the shame value as the dollar? i don't know and speaking in english is difficult for me to express and not clear my at 100%

[401RoadWarrior]

@neptuno338 1) MX is a totally different country than USA or CDA, their currency is MX Peso, so ANYTHING you buy in MX, gas included, is done in MX Pesos only. 2) I did not buy ANYTHING from MX, that includes gas (so I did not buy gas from MX), all I wanted was to find out how much costs their gas in USD, nobody spoke ANY English around. 3) I grew up in RO before 1990, communist dictatorship, but I had no problem learning English from kindergarten up to University years.

[neptuno338]

@401RoadWarrior then never put gasoline at car in mexico?don't need gas? actually in spain the price of gasoline is so high! for one spanish is impossible travel in car around the country with our ridiculous economy. The level of the salaries and our standard of living are very unevenly

[Westcoast802]

Very interesting video how Mexico looks like in border region and in generally. Seems like they use almost only american cars, right?

Michael

[401RoadWarrior]

@Westcoast802 Yes, 99% (not to say 99.99%) only American cars, BUT overwhelmingly USED cars. I have 2 maybe 3 more videos about the very same area which I will U/L next (one/day) before getting back to U.S.

Nobody speaks English, ANY English, over there, in the next video I got into a local store, major supermarket, couldn't speak with anybody in English, at gas station the same, so God forbid you need some sort of help (car brake down for instance), how the hell you talk to locals???

[ahlabansa]

There are 2 kinds of cars that they use in Mexico that I know that you don't see in the US and Canada.

They are Renault and Dacia.

A.J.

[401RoadWarrior]

@ahlabansa 99% American cars only, mostly used. Those EU models you just mentioned, maybe in Mexico City or places far away from U.S. border, but south of the border only American cars.

Dacia is owned by Renault, very very very very VERY bad car, TRUST ME, I'm from RO, born and lived there for 27 freakin' long years before 1990, HATE Dacia and anything that reminds me of the black communist years. But there are very cheap, a brand new one maybe $6K max $8K, but again, UGLY cars.

[michael112254]

@401RoadWarrior VW has a factory in Mexico. The Japanese are building or have built factories in Mexico to take advantage of the growing Latin American market. You will not see too many Cadillacs, Mercedes, ect. because they attract the wrong kind of attention. The well off drive big American SUV's that are usually armor plated with bullet proof windows. The traffic is a lot less chaotic than in some American cities. Did you stay overnight and did you buy Mexican auto insurance in the US?

[401RoadWarrior]

@michael112254 LOL To stay in Mexico???????????????/ I'm not crazy, with my own car plus do not speak the local language, not in a freakin' million years!!! You do not need Mexican auto insurance if you stay within the "buffer" zone, I think ~20 miles south of the U.S. border. Been for ~6 hrs in Mexico, only within the "buffer" zone, no stupid intention on driving my car into the freakin' dangerous... UNKNOWN. Return to U.S. before the sunset.

[michael112254]

@401RoadWarrior Did the Mexican ask you any questions when you crossed the border? They seemed to be very indifferent to your entrance into their country. You also have the only Ontario license plates in Mexico and even that did not arouse any attention from their border police. Scotiabank has expanded into Mexico due to the NAFTA agreements. The American banks are in too weak of a financial position to do any expansions into other markets. Doe GPS work in Mexico or do you need an upgrade?

[jonathansmith91]

Hi !! What is the name of the song??

[401RoadWarrior]

@jonathansmith91 You have to read the details of the PLAYLIST, in car I have SATELLITE Radio, Sirius - XM, 150 channels for $12/month, I do not keep track of what's playing on sat radio while driving.